3. Probation.
He reached the dilapidated building in about five minutes without breaking a sweat, and was pacing the short distance between his bed and the kitchen sink thirty seconds later.
'Damn it!' he swore loudly, suddenly remembering that he had an assignment that he had to finish.
His boss wouldn't be happy.
No, she'd probably make him combust.
He fell down on his bed, trying to get his thoughts straight, his mind was clearer now that he had fed.
Okay, he thought, I pushed some girl out of a window… it's not like it's the worst thing I've done. He closed his eyes and rolled over, I lost control again, weren't you meant to get more control as you got older? Zach stood up, knowing that he'll never sleep, and looked at his reflection.
He'd never get older.
It was his mutation and his pride that kept him living this way.
He couldn't live for eternity without stealing the lives of others to keep himself looking the way he did. No, he had to take life forces… there was no two ways about it.
There was no use in hiding though… he'd have to face Saskia eventually.
Maybe if he went later, it would look like he failed whilst trying and he wouldn't have to explain knocking a girl from a five story building, or the corpses he left in the alley.
Yes, he thought, agreeing with his own proposition.
'I'll just sit tight for a few hours', he muttered to himself, repositioning his body on his lumpy mattress.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the moment where he'd slip away into his dreams; something he waited for every night, but all that would come to him would be memories and his own thoughts telling him to relax. But he never slept; he couldn't sleep. All he did was haunt this room.
There was someone at his door – he knew before they knocked. He got up and opened with a cheeky grin on his face.
If anyone could help him waste time it'd be her.
'Hey Zoey,' he greeted her, leaning on the door frame.
'Aren't you meant to be on an assignment?' she asked charging past him, her face low trying to hide her blushing cheeks. No matter how much time she'd spend with him, she hadn't gotten used to how damn attractive he was.
Zach shrugged and walked behind her. Zoey was older now, twenty-three, and though she was only a year older than Zach, he still only looked about nineteen. Living the way she did tired her and took away from her young beauty; she was maturing fast, but there was something still… sexy to that.
'You're surprisingly alert today,' she commented searching through his fridge. 'Still no food? I asked you to pick up a few things!'
'I don't eat. It'd go off before you'd get around to it.'
'Well, I can't possibly do anything remotely strenuous on an empty stomach,' she stood facing him, one hand on her hip, the other playfully fiddling with her jacket zipper.
x
They both arrived at Saskia's later that night; Zach hoped that she would be too tired to deal with him.
They walked in after hacking past the overgrown garden shrugging dead leaves off their clothes and out of their hair to the boastful chants of the younger boys claiming their latest female conquest.
'I saw this chick— ', one began, his orange-red hair almost glowing under the yellow lights – he was the only one they could see around the corner of the door to the living room.
'Here we go…' one of his friends interrupted. There was a brief silence followed by loud, boisterous laughter.
'Hey! I didn't do anything like that to her!' he yelled out over the laughter.
'Course he didn't do anything, look at the boy. Have you actually hit puberty yet?' Zoey smirked, leaning on the door.
'Ya know Zoey, as soon as you get sick of that pale pretty boy you've got there, call me,' a young man with platinum blonde hair approached her slowly. Zoey looked back to Zach, hoping he'd say something; but he had already walked off. She shrugged and returned to flirting with him; curious as to where it would lead.
'Saskia?' Zach walked in cautiously, not wanting to feel the wrath of her flames. It didn't look like she was in there yet – Zach sighed with relief. He sat down on the seat in front of her desk and swung his boot-clad feet onto the desk.
'Do you mind telling me what happened?' a voice asked from the door.
'I, uh, failed,' he replied, not turning around.
Saskia walked over to her desk and threw some papers down, before seating herself. She eyed his dirty boots with a glare; Zach quickly placed his feet back on the ground.
'Thank you.'
And that's all she said for a whole five minutes. Five minutes of excruciating silence as she stared at him.
'Now, see here Zacharias,' she had used his full name, that wasn't good, 'Not once in the two or so years you've been working here, have you ever failed.'
'Everyone has their off days,' he shrugged, throwing her a smile he knew made anyone melt.
'Don't bother with that. Do you want to know what I've been doing since the time you left until about twenty minutes ago?' she asked rhetorically, her voice rising.
'I've been trying to explain to my clients why the mutant they hired didn't bother to show up for the briefing. Then I had to explain why my mutant didn't bother arriving at the meeting point… and finally, I had to explain why my mutant didn't bother showing up at all,' she hissed, rubbing her temples.
Zach opened his mouth to defend himself, but was stopped by Saskia's raised hand.
'No, don't explain. I don't have time to listen to you and your excuses. From now on, until I'm not so angry at you, no more assignments. You'll be on guard duty for all the newbies. I can make it a lot worse if you don't like it.'
Guard duty! He couldn't believe it. No self respecting person would ever agree to baby sit the young mutants while they ran around on basic theft missions – ego's and powers raging for the world to see. He sunk back into his seat, sulking.
Saskia rolled her eyes, and pointed to the door.
'Don't bother coming to the meeting after, either.'
The cold forced Alice to move from her spot in the park, and she continued to drift further and further into what seemed to be a more shady part of town. She had no idea where she was, but she knew enough to keep hidden; but not from the winter chill.
There were old buildings scattered around the place, but one caught her eye.
She watched as a few people slunk into the building, disappearing up the stairs. It was probably a long abandoned apartment complex – which would be a perfect place for her to sleep and figure out what to do next.
She wearily headed to the building, pushed the heavy door open, made her way up the stairs and collapsed on a mattress in a room void of any footprints on the dusty floors, and of any food in the cupboards and fridge.
Zach waited downstairs, flicking through the hundred or so television stations. Some kid managed to steal cable – among other things. The meeting was going on upstairs, and he knew that if he was bothered, he would be able to listen in.
But he was sulking.
If Saskia didn't want him there, then he didn't care what they were talking about. The sound of chairs scraping along the wooden floors groaned through the ceiling, and Zach shot up and ran silently up the stairs.
Everyone looked annoyed as they walked out, muttering under their breath – Zach didn't bother listening. He peeked into the room, and turned away immediately. If he thought everyone looked annoyed, Saskia looked as if she was going to tear the next person to talk to her apart.
Saskia walked out, holding a large, unruly file in her hand and glared menacingly at Zach, probably assuming that he was listening in anyway. He shrugged and walked into the room where Zoey was chatting to Jason and a red-haired boy.
'But… I really want to know,' Zoey whined, her back to Zach. Jason shook his head at her childish tone. He never really liked Zoey all that much; she was such the attention seeker. Jason nodded towards Zach, giving him a pained smile. Zoey turned and slipped off the desk she was sitting on.
'Hey Zach, I can't come over tonight… I'm busy,' Zoey kissed him on the cheek and left Zach and Jason alone. The red-head cast him a confused glance before turning pale and edging out of the room after her.
'I don't know how you do it,' Jason jerked his thumb towards the door, 'she's got the mind of a sixteen year old.' Zach didn't really know either. Their relationship was purely physical; absolutely nothing more.
'She's hot, don't get me wrong,' Jason added quickly, knowing that he wasn't the only one with super human strength and agility. He wasn't sure how Zach would react if someone said a word against his girlfriend.
''bout it,' Zach muttered.
'Pub?' Jason suggested, grinning as Zach agreed. He wanted to forget a little; and the strong alcoholic fumes never failed to help.
A/N: For all those who are a little lost about Zach's mutation, the next chapter should clear things up.